Vikings down to five finalists for football job; hope to name new coach next week

View full sizeBruce Ely/The OregonianPortland State athletic director Torre Chisholm said he hopes to name a new football coach sometime next week.Portland State is bringing five candidates for the job as head football coach to campus for interviews this week and Vikings athletic director Torre Chisholm said Tuesday morning he hopes to name a successor to Jerry Glanville next week.

“We're moving along fairly quickly," Chisholm said. "We've narrowed the list down to the folks we want to meet with in person. I think we’ll have it all wrapped up sometime next week, but I’m not sure if it will be early or later in the week.”

When Glanville resigned on Nov. 17 after three seasons with the Vikings, Chisholm said he wanted PSU’s next coach to have extensive college experience and a commitment to excellence on and off the field.

“The candidates that we want to continue to talk to are people of great character who have shown that they have the ability to manage and run an effective college football program,” Chisholm said.

“I think the part that we’re looking at the most in bringing them on campus is seeing, ‘OK, they’re great people, but are they the best fit for Portland State?’ That’s the part that takes time in person to really fill that piece out.”

If the search process continues as planned, Chisholm said most of the interviews should be completed by the end of this week, “but there’s always a chance that we could decide we need to see one or two other people, too. I can’t close that door down.

“Everybody that’s involved in the process is very enthusiastic about the quality of candidates that we have. At this point, I feel regardless of the decision we make, we’re going to wind up with a great coach for our program. It’s just trying to determine which one is going to be the best.”

Glanville’s resignation came three days after the Vikings closed the regular season with a 41-34 loss to the Idaho State Bengals in Pocatello, Idaho. The loss dropped PSU’s record to 2-9 overall and 1-7 in the Big Sky Conference, and left Glanville’s three-year record at 9-24.